Hollow May Cry
by ShindouWS
Summary: A Hollow exterminating agency established in a different world where Rangiku, Kuukaku, Renji, and Toushiro are Ichigo's classmates.


**Hollow May Cry**

**Chapter 01: Discovery**

Rating: T  
Pairing: Yet undecided, probably _Kurosaki Ichigo_ and _Hitsugaya Toushiro_... uh, and slight _Kon_ and _Matsumoto Rangiku_  
Notes: Fine, another weird story; but it's so much fun to write. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: Bleach is awesome and all, so it certainly can't be mine. I'm not making any money for this story.

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**As we are to see a great deal of Matsumoto Rangiku, there is no harm in saying, at the outset of our acquaintance, that she was a very dear creature; and a great mercy it is, both in life and in novels, which (and the latter especially) abound in villains of the most sobre sort, that we are to have for a constant companion, so guileless and good-natured a person. As she is one of the heroines, I am obliged to describe her person; indeed she was a beautiful person, her orange hair as long and wavy as the ocean's horizon, her heather grey eyes sparkling a great deal intensity and relaxed at once, except rather morose when she was about to cry, which she seldom did despite her outward innocence, and her assets, so much as I want to skip this part, were immense and often minimally cradled than otherwise, to the delight of her classmates and herself; for she liked the spirit when they bounced freely, much like what sepia pictures of kids playing in a field that she had in mind.

At so tender an age, sixteen years old, Rangiku had firmly decided to disinherit the long, sacred tradition of her family, which was one of the three main protecting families of Karakura town notable for holding some of the most precious spirit processing equipment, and defied the notion that their presence was needed in order to aid the Death Gods who came from the other world in purifying Hollows and sending them together with the wandering souls to either the Soul Society or hell, partially due to her great desire to be a normal human girl.

Her parents often compared her to Shiba Kuukaku, the accepted leader of another of aforementioned families, the Shiba family, notable for possessing some of the most precious magic spells; and upon compared, she would act berserk.

Together with Rangiku, Kuukaku makes up for the total amount of heroines in this story. As we are to see as much of Kuukaku, it is only fair that I properly introduce so charming, vigourous, albeit mildly violent a demoiselle that she was; an attractive person, her black hair straight, albeit as untidy as how tidy Rangiku's hair was, her turquoise eyes showing charisma and a great deal insolence towards others, and her assets as immense as Rangiku's, even though Kuukaku preferred to think of them more as a liability that hindered her Hollow-slaying performance.

The day was at its teen and everything seemed to Ichigo was happening naturally as they were supposed to be; as, indeed, in front of him were Rangiku and Kuukaku relentlessly arguing over female emancipation as to whether which of the two was inclined to do the cleaning job on the classroom's furniture, a kid prodigy wasting his moronic beauty of youth by wearing gratuitously thick glasses and overly baggy uniform and snoozing, a redhead whose desk was next to his spacing out, probably conspiring the eternal demise of everyone around him, and other students at their own pace.

Ichigo kept reminding the scene that happened at his house last night, when he encountered a woman dressed in black and carrying a sword fastened horizontally across the back of her waist who claimed to be a Death God and almost died due to his recklessness when trying to save his sisters, but somehow managed to defeat the Hollow by giving part of her power to him. He could hardly remember the woman's name. 'Sokia? Sachiko? Shostakovich!' Ichigo wondered and hit his own head afterwards.

"Ichigo!" called Keigo. "I heard a truck hit your house."

"Yeah," replied Ichigo, surprised that it was enough reason for Keigo avert his attention from the two pairs of assets that he worshiped.

"You don't seem hurt," said Renji briefly upon hearing the news.

"Got a problem with it?" retorted Ichigo. "No one's hurt."

"Nope—not at all," said Renji, grinning.

Ichigo was about to ask whose books on the table in front of his were when a girl suddenly called from behind, "Are you Kurosaki-kun?"

"Y-you!" Ichigo reflexively pointed his finger in the direction of the smiling, bob-haired girl with two long ponytails at the back.

"My name is Soi Fong. Nice to meet you," said her, giving Ichigo a slight smirk and raising her right hand's middle finger up to somewhat below her neck.

Ichigo knew what Soi Fong was insinuating, for he had seen the morphed form of the sword that Soi Fong used to attempt to kill the Hollow on the night before.

"You seem to know her," inquired Renji.

"N-no," said Ichigo, still startled. "S-she looks like a neighbour of mine who died two years ago."

"So Ichigo is scared of ghosts!" exclaimed Keigo, snickering.

Everyone around, of course, except Keigo, knew that it was a lie; but they also knew that Ichigo would not lie unless necessary, thus stopped inquiring.

Soon after Soi Fong recognised the leaders of Shiba and Matsumoto families; and was surprised by the fact that they were in the same class with Ichigo. She presumed that something had happened between either of the leaders and Ichigo in the past for Ichigo to have the ability to break out the low-level restraint spell that she cast upon him last night. Moreover, she also recognised the bubbling of spirit force from two other individuals in the classroom; and she had to take the supposition that either or both of the leaders were reckless with their soul-slaying duty that they could have ignited the spirit force of so many people.

"Shiba Kuukaku and Matsumoto Rangiku," spoke Soi Fong upon approaching the arguing girls.

"New student," said Kuukaku blatantly. "What do you want? We're midway through solving our argument; so if you've got nothing important, just scram."

"Where are your manners?" Rangiku asked Kuukaku; and then turned her attention to the new student. "Why—hello there, Soi Fong."

"Hello," Soi Fong said and smiled at them, attempting to give them a hint and time to recognise her spirit force. Soon enough both Kuukaku and Rangiku's faces immediately turned stern once they were able to sense it.

"What's so powerful a Death God doing in this school?" asked Kuukaku.

"I'm charged to investigate the recent abnormal phenomenon in this town," said Soi Fong. "There have been more Hollows appearing in the past few weeks than there could be in many months accumulated before. Do you have any information on this regard?"

Rangiku eyed Kuukaku before saying, "My guess is it's because, well, as you can see, there are so many individuals with high spirit force around, especially that snoozing, white-haired boy over there, Hitsugaya Toushiro, that one, Kurosaki Ichigo, and that redhead, Abarai Renji."

"How did they get their powers in the first place?" asked Soi Fong.

"I knew sooner or later they would be suspicious," Rangiku told Kuukaku. "Well, to say the truth, it's because I don't want to be the inheritor of my family; so I gave them each a bit of my power to, who knows, help me do what tasks my parents would assign me. But it's Kuukaku's idea!"

"And you liked the idea," added Kuukaku. "And I didn't really take any part in the process."

"My—how the prestigious family of Matsumoto has fallen," said Soi Fong, sneering. "Granted in the hands of you."

"What?" Rangiku replied. "It's because Death Gods are weak while in this world that we are needed here; so you're supposed to be thankful for that."

"Girls get acquainted with each other really fast," Renji told Ichigo, bespeaking Soi Fong, Rangiku, and Kuukaku.

"It looks to me like they're in a cold verbal war," said Ichigo. "Why—are you jealous?"

"Wha—no!" replied Renji.

"Of course not," said Ichigo, smirking in the direction of Renji. "You like guys better after all."

"You!" cried Renji, hitting his table. "Sod it!"

"Ichigo," called Toushiro, adjusting the position of his glasses. "Are you okay for time? I need to ask you something in private."

"Um yeah—sure," said Ichigo, wondering about when the white-haired boy appeared near him.

Soon enough the bell rang and the class started.

"Oh well—we'll postpone it till the first break," said Toushiro.

It was then during the first break that Toushiro and Ichigo went to the top of the building, each carrying a bottle of mineral water which was of no importance to this story.

"I sense similar spirit force between you and the new student, Soi Fong," said Toushiro, opening the cap of his bottle. "I know this is so sudden; but, like you now, I'm also endowed with that special power."

"Woah... um well—actually," Ichigo spoke, albeit a great deal dazzled, "I've just found out about it recently myself. Long story short, we encountered a strong Hollow last night; and she got injured while saving me, so she gave me her power—some of her power, or so she said. She said she's a Death God. I don't know; but she's supposedly invisible to the eyes of normal humans; but somehow everyone can see her now."

"Oh," muttered Toushiro, putting a smug facial expression. "It must be a faux-body then. I did a research on the whole soul business thing through the Internet and ancient texts straightaway after I realised this power. It's a temporary body that Death Gods usually use in emergencies."

"You sure know lots," said Ichigo.

"Oh," muttered a voice from behind the door leading to the roof, beside which were Toushiro and Ichigo. "So that's all that."

"Renji?" called Ichigo, opening the door.

"Ah uh—sorry!" said Renji. "I just got curious."

Ichigo smirked and Toushiro sneered in the direction of Renji.

"Oh snap," said Ichigo, still smirking at Renji. "Have we just discovered something sinister?"

"Oh—sod you!" yelled Renji at whom was his closest friend, Ichigo.

"You're not the only one eavesdropping," said Kuukaku, appearing behind Renji together with Rangiku and Soi Fong. "Except we're better at staying unnoticed."

"Well—this must be kept secret," said Soi Fong, referring to the soul matter and walking past the door. "I could always erase your memory; but with the means of your power, you would be able to remember this again quickly; and I can't just remove your power without harming your soul, so I've not much choice but to let all of you have it."

"Brats," spoke Kuukaku in all of her might. "Might as well make use of it."

"Not interested," hissed Toushiro.

"Ditto," said Ichigo and Renji in unison.

* * *

We have seen how Soi Fong somehow became a classmate of Ichigo; and to properly enjoy a walking tour, as the sun had begun to set, young mothers were glancing back and forth from their kitchens through the windows to see a sign of their husband's arrival, cars jamming the roads, trees waving in a general direction, a pack of unknown type of birds settling down afar, she had decided to follow Ichigo who only continued walking because he knew that she was following him, albeit at her own pace. 

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine," soliloquised Soi Fong in a mix of both Shakespearean and Wagnerian ways, gazing upwards at the sky, motioning her right hand in such a gesture that looked as if she was about to welcome a kiss. "Because of the savour of thy good oinments thy name is as oinment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee."

"Shut uuup!" cried Ichigo, giving up ignoring the passionate Death God.

"Don't interrupt me! Human's stories are pleasantly romantic," said Soi Fong, giving Ichigo a glare. "I might actually learn something and... ahem."

"Yeah—right!" retorted Ichigo. "More importantly, how long are you gonna keep stalking me?"

"Until I feel satisfied," said Soi Fong. "You can always ignore me and walk ahead!"

"Tsk—whatever," Ichigo grunted.

Upon taking a turn about the street, Ichigo and Soi Fong heard the sound of a car honking loudly and a thud as it hit someone who appeared to be Rangiku, dressed up in a grey blouse whose upmost two buttons were let loose and a dark grey skirt.

"Hey!" shouted Ichigo, approaching shouted person.

"Blow me!" muttered Rangiku, standing up. "Oh blast! My DVDs are in smithereens!"

"Rangiku!" called Ichigo.

"Oh—hi," spoke Rangiku, turning to Ichigo. "Ichigo, Soi-Fong! Are you on a date?"

"No!" firmly replied Ichigo. "More importantly, are you alright?"

"I... I guess... or not," answered Rangiku, checking her attire. "My clothes are rather dirty now. And my DVDs are there in small pieces."

"Huh? I'm asking about you, not your belongings!" said Ichigo. "Are you really alright?"

"Um yeah—I'm alright!" answered Rangiku. "I'll just go back to the store and get the same DVDs now."

"Uh..." muttered Ichigo. "Well—I'm glad it's... nothing serious."

"Nothing serious!" retorted Rangiku. "You're still obliged to walk me down to the store and home."

"Na uh," replied Ichigo, huffing.

"That bruise on your leg," Soi Fong spoke, having a closer look at the multiple strokes on Rangiku's right leg.

"Looks terrible," added Ichigo. "That must hurt."

"No—it doesn't really hurt," said Rangiku, musing. "But it looks so much like a Hollow's stamp, doesn't it?"

"Yes—it does," said Soi Fong. "You're the leader of a protector family; so it shouldn't matter. However, it's better to stay on the safe side."

"What's a Hollow's stamp?" asked Ichigo.

"Some Hollows mark their targets before devouring their souls," said Soi Fong. "It makes it easier for them to track the location of their targets, especially when they feel the need to strengthen themselves before confronting them."

"There's more to a Hollow's stamp," spoke Rangiku. "But rest assured, I'm tougher than I look."

"Well—I guess I'll walk you home then," offered Ichigo.

"Indecisive," said Rangiku, slightly smirking. "No need. Walking with a guy will make people think that I'm not single."

"Fine, whatever," Ichigo grunted.

"Well—see you then," said Rangiku, leaving in the other direction.

"You sure she'll be alright?" asked Ichigo.

"Worried?" asked Soi Fong.

"Not really," answered Ichigo firmly.

"Then don't ask," said Soi Fong, fishing into her pocket the book.

Later that night Rangiku was watching the twentieth chapter of Naruto on the telly when she heard her bedroom's windows cracking and felt the spirit force of a Hollow. She was instantly surprised and alert; and she grabbed her sword and hit herself with the tip of its handle, forcibly bringing her soul out the body.

"Roar, Haineko!" said Rangiku, causing her sword to disperse into tiny bits that resemble dust into the air straightaway when she saw the Hollow attempt to punch her.

Her parents downstairs began the ritual of Hollow-slaying upon sensing the spirit force to function as a back-up lest Rangiku failed to slay it.

With the right hand used to increase the amount of the small dust-resembling particles, Rangiku used her left hand and mind to control their movements. She used them to form defense and offense at the same time by spreading them into four masses of particles; and indeed, while the Hollow had not even a single time able to reach Rangiku, she had succeeded in cornering the Hollow and fastened both its hands against the wall of her bedroom using the two masses that I shall now refer to as restraint masses.

"Can't move, eh?" spoke Rangiku mockingly. "Train for another hundred years; although you've made it impossible now."

She then attempted to crack the Hollow's head using one of the four masses in a forward, thrusting manner; and immediately realised that the head was too tough for only such a small part of her concentration to pierce through.

"Too shallow," muttered Rangiku, pulling her left hand, causing both the offensive mass and the defensive mass to combine, ready to attempt to thrust the Hollow's head once more.

The Hollow screamed as its mask cracked and part of it fell into the floor, revealing his real face.

Rangiku was awestruck as she saw the face behind the mask; and was able to only muster, "K-Kon!"

The Hollow fled outside the room past the wall screaming and disappeared to the Hollow world; for he had to recover his mask and some strength before returning to confront Rangiku for the second time.

Rangiku herself was still horrified to learn the fact that the man who once was her beloved had turned into a Hollow. On the day Rangiku turned fifteen, Kon passed away in a car accident on his way to Rangiku's house to celebrate her birthday. However, she did not sense the presence of Kon's soul when she came to see the corpse; and therefore she thought that Kon's soul had gone to the Soul Society. Never occurred to her that he would become a Hollow that she had to exterminate with her own hands.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
